


Reaching, There Is Nothing Left

by tiniestmite



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Character Death, Character Study, Coda, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiniestmite/pseuds/tiniestmite
Summary: * spoilers for 2x02 "2100°" *Tim just wanted to go home.
Comments: 30
Kudos: 48





	Reaching, There Is Nothing Left

**Author's Note:**

> title from "crash and burn" by dayseeker
> 
> I doubt many people are going to read this because it's not a Tarlos fic but if you do, just know that I really appreciate you 💗
> 
> I got this idea as I was trying to sleep and wrote it as soon as I woke up so I apologize it might be a little messy but Max did look it over first so.. blame him maybe ;)
> 
> I'm also not sorry at all for this.

_“Nobody’s gonna die today, I promise”_

He shouldn’t have made that promise to that little boy, He knew it as soon as the words left his mouth. But in the moment, he couldn’t help it. It’s his gut instinct to help people and the only way he could help that kid was by telling him that his dad would be okay.

That’s why he became a paramedic, after all. Sure he could have stayed enrolled in college, continued to get good grades, and found a steady job, but he felt a need to do more. He wanted to help people. Being out in the field, treating people when they are at their worst and reassuring them that he’s there to help. That’s all he wanted to do. What he was born to do. 

_“I was just trying to make him feel better.”_

_“No, you were trying to make yourself feel better. Don’t do it again.”_

He wanted to get along with his new captain. He tried. Whenever Captain Vega would give an order, he would listen. Especially after their first call they had together, he learned that he could trust her and she knew what she was doing.

It was hard enough having Michelle leave; someone who he worked with for so long. He had built a relationship with her and Nancy; the three of them working together like a well-oiled machine, each of them knowing exactly the other worked, and anticipating their moves before any word was said between them. Their system worked. Their system saved lives.

But then Michelle left.

He’s not an unreasonable guy. He knows Michelle made the right decision for herself. But what about him? What about Nancy? What about the team they worked so hard to create?

His new captain knows what she’s doing, sure. But he has yet to build the relationship with her that he had with Michelle. Not that he hasn’t tried, but it’s hard when he still is missing the camaraderie that he had with his former captain. 

_“I can’t promise something I don’t have the power to keep, Spence. But we’re going to everything we can to avoid doing any more damage.”_

He wanted to go home. For a while after he arrived in Austin to attend the University of Texas, he was going home every few months. He enjoyed the safety of returning to his childhood home, sleeping in his bed, watching television with his father, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. 

He continued to visit home even after he dropped out of college and started his paramedic training. He enjoyed catching up with his siblings as they moved on with their lives while he tried to the same, thousands of miles away. He knew it would be just as easy to move back to Baltimore and continue his training there. But there was something special about Austin.

Somewhere along the way, Austin began feeling more like home than Baltimore did. The trips to visit his family became more spread out and the feeling of safety when he would arrive no longer was as prominent.

He felt more at home working alongside Nancy and Michelle. Even after they lost their crew and were spread out across town, they still managed to keep in touch and continue to build their relationship. And when a new crew for the 126 was brought in, the three paramedics were brought back as well and continued working as if no time had passed at all. 

They never discussed that period in between. Whether it was out of grief of their fellow firefighters, or that the time they spent apart no longer mattered. What was important was that they were back together.

_“Just get me out of here, please.”_

_“When I do it, I’m gonna do it right.”_

He was supposed to go home this summer. To his real home. As much as he enjoyed his life in Austin, it had been nearly two years since he saw his parents and siblings. It was time.

But when the pandemic hit and he was forced to cancel his trip, he found himself longing once again for that safety net of sleeping in his childhood room. 

That was what he thought about. As the scene around him grew in chaos, and he made more promises he knew he may not be able to keep. He shouldn’t be here.

He wasn’t supposed to stay in Texas. He was supposed to go to school for four years and then go back. But he didn’t. 

And as a dark object flew into his vision until he saw nothing but black, he took a deep breath. He was ready to go home.

**Author's Note:**

> RIP Tim Rosewater :(


End file.
